Renting Local Authority Housing

Meath Local Authorities are the main providers of housing for people who need housing and cannot afford to buy their own homes. Local authority housing is allocated according to housing need, and rents are based on your ability to pay. Housing Associations (sometimes called "Voluntary Housing" or "Voluntary Housing Associations") also provide housing for people who cannot afford to buy their own homes.

Rules

Qualifying for Local Authority Housing

If you think you may qualify, you should apply to your Local Authority, which will take account of factors such as your household size, income, your present accommodation (if any), the condition of that accommodation and any special circumstances, including age, disability, medical circumstances, etc. Someone from the Local Authority may visit you to assess your present housing circumstances.

Local Authority Housing Waiting Lists

If you are accepted by the Local Authority as being in need of housing, you are then placed on the Local Authority housing waiting list. Each Local Authority draws up its own rules for deciding order of priority on the waiting list, called the "Allocation Scheme" (see below).

You may be able to specify areas where you would like to live, but you should remember that if you choose a popular area, you may wait longer for an offer of housing than if you choose a less popular area.

As houses become available for letting (renting out), they are allocated from the waiting list in order of priority, taking account of all the relevant circumstances. You should remember that your position may go up or down depending on the circumstances of other people on the housing waiting list and as your own circumstances change. In practice, priority is generally given to families and elderly people rather than single people or couples without children.

If you are offered a house you do not want, you can refuse it, but if the Local Authority thinks that you do not have a good reason for refusing the offer of the house, it may reduce your priority on the waiting list, particularly if you refuse more than one offer.

Local Authority housing is unfurnished. If you are offered a Local Authority property and you do not have and cannot afford to buy furniture or appliances, you may be eligible for help from your local Health Service Executive Area. Contact the Community Welfare Officer for information about this.